Editorial

As we head towards WWDC 2014 we thought it would be fun to look back at Apple World Wide Developer Conferences past, what they introduced, and what impact they made. We're starting with WWDC 2007, not only because there are 7 days left before WWDC 2014 kicks off, but because WWDC 2007 was the first to feature both OS X and iOS, and nothing has been the same since, not for Apple or for developers.

iOS everywhere, including in the home, has been a logical area of future product speculation ever since Apple announced iOS in the Car in 2013 and launched it as CarPlay in 2014. A bi-directional version of Apple's TV-centric AirPlay, if Apple could project iOS onto a car display, why not a camera display? Why not every display? Conversely, if apps were using the iPhone and iPad as controls, why not make that experience even better? That's what the latest Apple home automation rumors focus on. But would it work?

There's a story going around about Apple working on ARM-based Macs. In other words, Macs that, instead of Intel chipsets, use the same kind of Apple A7-style chipsets found in the iPhone and iPad. The story is nothing new. ARM-based Macs, touchscreen Macs, iOS Macs, Retina Macs... Apple prototypes pretty much anything and everything any reasonable person would expect them to. A thousand no's for every yes requires a very high prototype to product ratio, after all...

Okay, technically this is an iBooks wish rather than an iOS 8 wish but what better time to ask for something as amazing demonstrable as a comic book reading mode than when Apple's about to kick off their first Keynote of the year? And given the recent sale of comiXology to Amazon and the subsequent removal of IAP from the Comics app, when better for Apple to give their own comic book reading experience some attention?

A few weeks ago Scott Galloway, the Clinical Professor of Marketing at NYU, gave an incredibly fascinating presentation at the DLD conference in New York. I just happened to notice the YouTube video of his presentation today. He spoke for about 23 minutes in an action packed presentation on the winners and losers of the digital age. I highly recommend watching the entire thing, and we've embedded the video below.

Battery life is one of the most important elements of a modern mobile device. That's why iMore's battery life tips are some of our most popular articles, and why our comments, social feeds, and forums are filled with battery life questions, boasts, and complaints. Apple prioritizes battery life above almost everything else, even making the iPad 3 and Retina iPad mini ever-so-slightly thicker and heavier just to maintain 10 hours of battery life. Yet some apps, especially those that use VoIP like Skype, that use GPS like Google Maps, or those that have rogue processes or other glitches can still chew through power at an alarming rate. That's where battery shaming comes in. Battery shaming was introduced on the Mac with OS X Mavericks and I'd love to see something like it on the iPhone and iPad in iOS 8.

Earlier today, eBay issued a press release letting users know that a cyberattack "compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data." Users will be asked to change their passwords just in case, though they noted that eBay "has seen no indication of increased fraudulent account activity." This is sadly just one of many attacks recently, and something that won't be going away anytime soon, if ever.

Attacks like this are nothing new, over the years plenty of big-name sites have become victim to similar cyberattacks. Retial chain Target has been all over the news lately, and there's also vulnerabilities like the recent Heartbleed Bug that affected Google, Facebook, Yahoo and dozens of other sites.

In answering the federal regulators' questions last year, Google merely stated the obvious — 'mobile' doesn't fit the new categories of device of the future

Can't say I didn't see this coming.

Late last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission — one of the bodies that helps make sure businesses play fair — had some questions for Google regarding its year-end 2012 fiscal report, which was filed in January 2013. Some of those questions regarded Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility. Some had to do with taxes. Some with Motorola's Home business. Other questions had to do with the difference between the "cost per click" for advertising on desktop versus mobile.

It's Google's answers to that last section that got the headlines, of course. It's blogger gold. "ZOMG Google to put ads on thermostats and refrigerators and your newborn baby's forehead."

There's an old cliche that it takes Microsoft three tries to really nail a product. Like most cliches it's as true as it is untrue, but with the just announced Surface Pro 3 it really does look like Microsoft finally understands their product and its position in the mobile device spectrum. Because of that, it also looks like Microsoft is changing targets from the iPad to the MacBook Air. So what does that mean?

Another of my longstanding desires for iOS is interactive (what some call actionable) notifications, which takes interface from being pull — I have to go find what I want to do — to push —the system brings what I want to do right to me. Home screens, widgets, apps are all pull interface. I have to go to switch out of what I'm doing in order to go do something else. Interactive notifications are push interface. No matter what I'm doing, they come right to me. Depending on implementation and settings, that can be convenient or annoying, but it's inarguably powerful. OS X Mavericks got it last year. It'd be great of iOS 8 got interactive notifications this year.